Car-coupling



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (No Model.)

J. M. BOUCK.

GAR GOUPLING.

Patented Feb. 19, 1889-.v

VNo. 398,123.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. M. BOUCK.

GAR GOUPLIN No. 398,128. Patented Feb. 19, 1889.

u ...u ,i

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. BOICK, OF GOUVERNEUR, NV YORK.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No.V 398,123, dated February 19, 1889.

Application tiled June 5, 1888.

To @ZZ whom. it may concern:

Be 1t known that l, JOHN M. lSO'UCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gouverr neur, in the county ot' St. Lawrence, State of New York, have invented a' certain new and usciulImprovementin Car-Couplers, ot' which the following is so t'ull, clear, and exact a dcscription as will enable others skilled in the j art to which my invention appertains to make and use thc same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object ot' my invention is to provide a cancoupler which shall dispense with the ordinary coupling-link now in use on 'freightf cars, and enable the brakeman to couple his cars together without getting between the cars, and thus avoid the risk ot' danger tolife and limb.

Another object of my invent-ion is to provide a coupler which shally be easily used with the coupling-links of the ordinary coupler when necessary, thus avoiding the necessity of suddenly abandoning many old cars and undergoing great expense thereby.

Another object of my invention is to provide a coupler that shall be operative between ears of diiterent heights-of platform as well as between ears having their platforms on the same level.

Another object of my invent-ion is to provide a coupler which may be operated from the platform of the car, when the car has a platform, which is not unfrequently the case with freight-cars.

These objects l accomplish by the device which is hereinafter described, and which is illustra-ted in the accompanying drawings, in which- YFigure l is a longitudinal section of one end of a car, showing my coupler in section as mounted on the car. Fig. 2 isafront view of a car with the front transverse beam removed, showing my coupler in end view Vand with the two devices whereby it is operated from the platform and coupled to the old form of car, respectively. Fig. 3 is a back lview of the "front iloor-beam of a car, showing the attachment and working ot the lifting-levers. Fig. i is a top view of the front floor-beam of a car with a part of the oor removed, showing the arrangement of bent levers, wherebyk the coupler may be lifted from a point as far Serial No. 276,119. (No model.)

1 from the end of the car as is wished. Fig. 5 is a top view of the middle section of the coupler-bar, showing its construction in two pieces. Fig. (5 is a top view of one of the outer sections or jaws of the coupler-bar, showing in dotted lines the arrangement ot' the guard-buft'er,whereby the car is prepared to be coupled to a car of the old form. Fig. 7 is a side view ol' the guard-buit'er itself. Fig. S is a side view of the bridle D. Fig. 9 is an end front 'view of bridle D, showing the 1 oblong aperture (7. Fig. l0 is a top 'view of t-hebridle D.

Throughoutthe accompanying drawings and in the `iollowin g specification the same reference-letters designate corresponding parts in the various views.

The coupler-bar A is formed in three general sections-one central section, a, and two outer sections or jaws, l) lJ-which are built to,- gether, as follows: The central section, a, may be made in one piece, as shown in Fig. 1, or it may be made in two pieces, as shown in Fig.` 5. This section ais composed of abody, A', ahead, a, and a shank, a. The head, as shown in Fig. 5, is formed to supply a jaw for the reception of the projections e, and also a part of the buierf. The head a and the body A are both perforated for the reception of bolts designed to fasten them to the outer sections, b b. The shank a.' is a smooth cylinder for a part of its length, and is screwthreaded toward the end. The outer sections or jaws, b b, are made alike,V and are composed offV one piece cut as shown in Fig. The head li is made to fit over the head of the middle section, so that the three forward holes m of the outer sections will come exactly over the three corresponding holes in the middle section. The point e is designed to project beyond the buffers f, and is perforated at o byan oblong aperture. The aperture in the upper jaw b is cut so as to fall directly above that in the lower jaw b, and the centers of bothholes fall approximately in the plane of contact of the buffers. This aperture is intended 'for the reception of the coupling-pin p. These three sections of the coupler-bar A having been placed in the relative positions shown in Fig. l are bolted together through the holes shown in Figs. and 6, and the bar is then hung in place, as follows:

IOO

Under the front sill-beam of the car is bolted a coupler-saddle, S. (Shown in end view in Fig. 3.) The body of the couplerbar rests in t-his saddle, with the head extending forward beyond the under edge of the car, and with the shank a supported by a bridle, D, and a toggle-joint, J, asshown in Fig. l. .lust back of the sill E and under the body of the coupler-barA the two levers shown in section at Zin 1o Fig. l are placed, and serve to raise the coupler-bar through the space shown at u in Fig. El. Just back of the body of the coupler-bar is placed a disk, XV, which surrounds the shank of the coupler-bar, and to which is attached a spiral spring, fr, which extends from this disk to the bridle at the point d, where the shank of the coupler-bar passes through said bridle. Beyond the point d there is another spiral spring, fr', which extends from 2o the bridle to the toggle-joint J.

The bridle D is fully exhibited in Figs. S, t), and l0. As seen in Fig. lO, it is composed of two shanks, D D', which are joined by a guide-piece, d', in which is cut an aperture, CZ, made oblong in the vertical direction to allow of an up-anddown play of the coupler-bar A. The two shanks are designed to be attached by means of bolts through the holes shown in Fig. S to the two middle longitudinal beams ot 3o the car-body.

The toggle-joint, as shown in Fig. l, is composed of two rigid pieces, g and g', xed, respectively, to the supporting-bar c and to the nut Between these two rigid pieces is pivoted another piece, i, which is free to turn about the two pivots shown at a: andtin Fig. l. The bearing of pivot t in the 'upper rigid piece is made oblong in the direction ot' the car-axis, and is designed to permit a back- 4o ward and forward play of the toggle-joint. The lower rigid piece ot' this joint is attached to the nut r, into which is screwed the end of the shank a'.

' ln Fig. S is shown the arrangement of side levers, L and L', by means of which the coupler-bar A is raised through the distance E. The two pivotal supports s are fastened to the back surface of the forward sill, and by means of a downward pressure on the handles h the 5o levers may be operated. These levers are so balanced that the weight of the handles keeps the working ends always in contact with the T coupler-bar. d Y

A In Fig. l is shown a bent-handled lever, 5 5 which acts in practically the saine manner as the others; but by .reason of the backward turn in the handle the opera-tor is not obliged to be near the end ot' the car when the two ears come together.

In Fig. 2 the :front of: the car is shown with the Afront sill removed in order to expose the action of the treadle P in the raising of the coupler-bar from the platform of the ear.

Y The strap I supports a pivot, I, about which '1119 erel L" Vstu.,1'11ed means. of; the .donne ward thrustofjthe post F, operated V'from the platform by pressure of the foot on the treadle P. At G is shown a llathook lixed to the top of the truck-beam H, and upon which the guard-bunter B may be hung when not in use. In Fig. 2 this guard-butferi s shown hu ng upon the hook G. The construction of this guardbuffer is shown in detail in Fig. 7, where the buffer is shown from the top when in action. I3" B" are two solid metallic buf fers, forming one piece with the two lips B B', which connect them, the whole heilig so proportioned as to lit snugly over the jaws of the coupler-bar, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. G. The hole o is made the same in size as the hole o in Fig. 6, and may or may not be made oblong Vfor the same reason-namely, in order to allow of greater lateral bending between the cars when turning' a curve. It will be readily seen that when in position this guard-butter will present a surface to the buffer of the contiguous car similar to that presented by the buffers of the present form of car.

My improved car-coupler will then be operated as follows: iVhen 4two cars furnished with my coupler are brought together for coupling, if the coupler-bars are on the same level, the brakeman will depress the handle of the lever L, L', or L", accordingto the position he finds it necessary to take, and depending' upon whether the car has a platform or not, and thus slightly raise the coupler-bar, allowing the jaw-points e e of one bar to alternate with the corresponding' jaw-points of the other. Once in this position, the pin p may be inserted without going between the cars either from the platform or from the side of the car. lf, however, the cars are not built equally high, the jaws will naturally assume the proper position as they come together IOO without the operation of the lever, the coupler on the lower car taking the position shown in dotted lines as that of the bar. As the cars come together, the bu ifers f on the bars of one car will strike the corresponding' buffers on the bar of the other car, and the shock will be taken up with the easiest motion possible by the spiral springs r and lv'and the togglejoint J. iVhcn it is required to couple one of my coupler-bars with the old form of coupler now in use, a buffer corresponding to the old form of buit'er must be provided, or the jaw-points of my coupler will be jammed and seriously damaged by the shock of the meeting. For this purpose l have contrived a guard-butter which is adjustable to the head of my coupler-bar, and which, when not in use, can be hung up out of the way upon the hook G. To operate this guard, it is simply fitted over the points of my coupler-bar in such a cway as to bring the oblong' hole o" over the corresponding hole o, and then by inserting the old coupling-pin into the jaw k the cars may be coupled by dropping the pin p through the three superposed holes in my c ouplerfbar.

Hithjert'o brakemen have been obliged to risk serious injuries, and often a horrible TIO death, by entering the space between the cars in order to hold the coupling-link in place l while the moving car was approaching. necessity for this risk is obviated by the use of my device. Another objection to the present system of car-coupling is that when cars of unequal heights are coupled together the pull on the pin is not a straight one, but includes a twisting effect which endangers not only the pin, but the link aswell. By the use of my device the pull upon the pin is inl. In a car-coupler, a recessed coupler-bar 1 provided with a nut, fr, having a rigid piece, g, secured thereto, in comlgiination with a link, e, and a second rigid piece, g', secured to a su )orting-bar c said rigid nieces f havine i 7 7 A C? an oblong perforatiim, the longer axis of which extends in the direction of the track, said link 2'. being pivoted to said rigid pieces g and g by one pivot-pin extending through said oblong perforation, substantially as and Afor the purposes specified.

2. ln a car-coupler, arec vsed coupler-bar All i, and a second rigid piece, g, secured to a support-ing-bar, c, said rigid piece g having an oblong perforation, the longer axis ot' which extends in the direction of the track, said link i being pivoted to said rigid pieces g and g by one pivot-pin extending through said oblong perforation, and a pair of levers, L and L', the inner ends of which bear against the under side of the coupling-bar and the outer ends provided with handles, one of said levers having an auxiliary foot-post extendvariably straight, and all twisting and wrenchprovided with a nut, r, having a rigid piece, i

g, secured thercio,in combination with a link,

i, and a second rigid piece, g', secured to a supporting-lmr, c, said rigid piece g having 4 bridle D, and a disk, lV, loosely mounted on which extends in the direction of the track, said link i being pivoied to said rigid pieces an oblong pert'm-ation, the longer axis of l/ and g by one pivot-pin extending through the under side of the coupler-bar and the outer ends provided with handles, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

ing up through the platform, substantially as described.

el.. In a car-coupler, thc combination of a lecesscd couplcubar provided with a nut, fr,

having a rigid piece, g, secured thereto, with a link, "i, and a second rigid piece, g', secured to a supporting-bar, c, said rigid piece g having an oblong` perforation, the longer axis of which extends in the direction of the track, said link 2T being pivoted to said rigid pieces g and g by one pivotpin extending through said Oblong perforation, and a buffer-guard having perforated lips, which are adapted to embrace the perforated jaws of the coupling, the perforations in the buffer registering with those of the coupling, substantially as described.

5. ln a ear-coupler, a pair of coupler-bars supported at their rear ends by a toggle-joint and supported near their jaws by saddles, and `free to move vertically and horizontally within predetermined limits, in combination with bridle D, and coiled springs encircling the coupler-bars and abutting against the bridle from opposite sides, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

6. In aV car-coupler, a pair of coupler-bars supported at their rear ends by toggle-joints and supported near their jaws by saddles, and free to move vertically an d horizontally within predetermined limits, in combination with the coupler-bar, and a coiled spring between said disk and bridle, and a second coiled spring between said bridle and the togglesaid oblong perforation, and a pair of levers, l. and `l/,thc inner ends of whiehbear against l joint, all constructed and combined to operate substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my'signature in the presence of two witnesses,

- JOHN M. BOCK.

'Witnessesz y W. F. BowHALi., W. NEARY.

TCO. 

